Victory Summer Love Ale |Downingtown, Pennsylvania I It was 96 damn degrees on Saturday and 98 damn degrees on Sunday. It’s not supposed to get this hot in May. I have been rebuilding our back deck for Mrs. Dan’s birthday (which was a month ago–I got a bit behind). I sawed and cussed and skinned my legs and cussed some more over the poor quality “premium” lumber I bougtht from Lowes. I was hot and sweaty and wishing I had spent some quality time spraying on suntan lotion. After losing about 5 lbs from sweating (literally) and finishing the last board I could barely make it to the back door. As I sat there in a daze, next to the little fridge in the garage, I couldn’t help myself and pulled out a bottle of Victory Summer Love. Right then and there it was the best beer I’ve ever had.…

Jekyll Brewing Redneck Christmas Stout | Alpharetta, GA | B eer Brother Brett gave me a can of this back before Christmas at one of the burn pots. It, along with some other Winter brews, need to be consumed now that Spring is about to spring. I exhausted myself collecting a ton of leaves and doing our neighborhood’s pre-Masters ritual: dodging the pinestraw vendors criss-crossing the neighborhood selling lots of pine straw that looks pretty good but in reality full of trash. I broke down and bought a couple bales and spread them out around the azeleas at the bottom of the driveway. After collecting 10 bags of leaves I was ready for a beer. Mrs. Dan has spent the afternoon getting rid of the pine pollen from the back porch. She wanted a beer as well. I offer her a Jekyll RedNeck Christmas Stout and a Sam Adams Harvest…

[Editor’s Note: For the past 8 years Dan and Mrs. Dan have had a Thanksgiving Thrown Down where they compete to see who makes the best dish. It started with turkeys but with only 3 people 2 turkeys was a bit much in the leftovers department. It was changed last year to be a side dish competition. This year the In-Laws joined the competition.] Les Andes Crémant de Loire | Loire, France and Fess Parker The Big Easy T hanksgiving morning started with a meeting of the Rules Committee. That is actually a committee of one and that’s Mrs. Dan. She had charted the oven/stove time for each contender so that everyone could produce the competing dish in time to hit the table and still be hot. The key here was working around the time oven #1 has the turkey. Mrs. Dan’s entry was a Mushroom Pancetta Risotto.…

Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest |Chico, California/ Mills River, NC I ‘m getting ready for Turkey Day. I had to move a bunch of brews out of the little fridge to make room for the 17-pound bird we got. The turkey this year is not part of the Thanksgiving Throw Down. Only side dishes are allowed to be entered in the competition. I realized I still had some Oktoberfest brews in there and decided to have one while I researched for this year’s winning recipe. For once I might finish my fest brews before the Super Bowl hits. I’m also pretending to be working while the Mrs. Dan-in-laws are downstairs clearing a spot for the Christmas tree. I picked out the Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest. I’m surprised. I like this one. I drink Sierra Nevada once in a blue moon. That’s because it is so West Coast bitter that I have to be…